Decay

"It's finally about to begin. Those two have been arguing for ages, they're practically Hypnosis us." The audience members in the stands perked up, looking at the two little sprites on the map.

"Both Venusaur and Charmeleon are level 5 Pokémon, but Fire-type is super effective against Wood-type. I estimate Charmeleon will win this match," a knowledgeable Pokémon practitioner in the stands Analytic as he looked at the arena below.

"That's not necessarily true. I've been to the Mysterious Bookstore and read the Pokémon manga. It describes how Charmander Ash Ketchum into Charmeleon, which then became unruly, its moves wouldn't work, and it would randomly use area-of-effect attacks, which was quite troublesome. So, if Charmeleon exhibits these negative traits in this match, it could very well put it at a disadvantage." Another cultivator offered a different perspective.

"But Charmeleon has fought no fewer than ten times so far, and the situation you described hasn't occurred. Perhaps this problem has already been resolved? After all, you're only reading books and haven't personally verified it in the small world, so it can't be taken as solid evidence." The experienced Pokémon researcher offered a rebuttal.

"My friend, you're completely wrong. The mini-worlds inside the Mysterious Bookstore are only triggered when we comprehend the content of the books; in other words, those so-called mini-worlds are actually the content recorded in the books. Otherwise, why would the Mysterious Bookstore Bookstore to the trouble of requiring everyone to read and comprehend the content of the books before entering? They might as well just let everyone enter the mini-worlds directly." The rebuttal cultivator was not to be outdone and countered sharply.

"There's something wrong with what you said. The reason why the Mysterious Bookstore..."

Then the two of them started a debate, and almost all the cultivators around them were influenced by them, gradually joining the side of the viewpoint they agreed with, which turned into a debate competition.

"Roar~"

At that moment, Charmeleon in the center of the field roared again and Spit Up a ball of fire at Venusaur.

Venusaur swooped to the side and dodged.

"Boom~"

Charmeleon unleashed another burst of flame.

'Whoosh~'

Venusaur continued to dodge, but this time it was a bit more difficult. The flames grazed the edge of Venusaur's legs, almost getting on its legs.

Although it didn't hit the plant directly, the heat from its proximity affected Venusaur's lower leg, slowing it down.

"Boom~"

Charmeleon Spit Up fire for the third time. This time, Venusaur didn't choose to dodge because it couldn't avoid the fire attack at its current speed, so it had no choice but to take it head-on.

"Ta Nai~"

Venusaur let out a cry, its eyes fixed on the incoming flames. Suddenly, the leaves next to the budding flower on its back fell off, floated up, and began to spin rapidly, slicing directly at the ball of fire.

"Pfft~"

The rapidly spinning leaf sliced through the center of the flame, splitting it in two and causing it to extend to both sides. The Venusaur, standing in the middle, successfully dodged the attack.

Seeing that its long-range attack had no effect, the Charmeleon Roar and pounced on Venusaur. Because the Pokémon in this world had been baptized by the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy, their movement speed was extremely fast.

The flames on both sides had just hit the ground when Charmeleon was already in front of Venusaur, raising its sharp claws to grab at Venusaur.

Venusaur leaped up on all fours, pulling back to narrowly dodge Charmeleon's claw.

Before Charmeleon could finish its first attack, it had already raised its other claw. Just as the first attack missed, the second attack came down, one on the left and one on the right, a cross-attack.

"Bang~"

Suddenly, several thick vines shot up from the ground and struck Charmeleon directly. Before Charmeleon could react, it was hit by the vines and sent flying.

"Wow! They actually hid the vines underground and then suddenly unleashed them when the opponent was running out of steam. That was quite effective!" The spectators in the stands couldn't help but exclaim in amazement at this sight.

"The masked man's research on Pokémon is quite profound. He knows that Vine is definitely weak against Charmeleon's Eruption Breath, so he devised a way to make Charmeleon give up fire attacks, minimizing the type disadvantage. That's really clever."

"Yes, and most importantly, he can make Venusaur so obedient and fearless in the face of danger. It's clear that he has his own unique insights into training Pokémon."

In short, after seeing this scene, everyone praised Venusaur's comeback and Li Bieli's skillful training of Pokémon.

The situation on the field changed because of Venusaur. Charmeleon was knocked away and fell to the ground, where it went berserk. Its eyes were bloodshot, it was panting heavily, and it was scratching the ground with its claws as it struggled.

Seeing this, Jiang Yibei knew he was in trouble. Actually, he didn't have a very high level of control over Charmeleon. This wasn't because he hadn't trained Charmeleon properly, but because Charmeleon's personality was too strange. It would throw tantrums from time to time. After several months of training, Jiang Yibei could barely control Charmeleon's emotions under normal circumstances.

However, if it encounters a situation like being beaten, Charmeleon will become enraged, and then Charmeleon will be helpless.

At that moment, Jiang Yibei could only stand outside, looking at the Charmeleon, and comforted it with concern, "Little Fire, calm down, don't be impulsive, if you are impulsive, you really won't be able to beat it."

But at this moment, Charmeleon wouldn't listen to Jiang Yibei; its bloodshot eyes were fixed on the sky.

"Roar!"

With a long roar, followed by a somersault, the Charmeleon stood up and opened its beak to spew wildly. The powerful flames swept through the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy and earth, actually increasing the power of the flames, making them even bigger and hotter!

Jiang Yibei was closer and took the brunt of the attack. Seeing the flames coming, he quickly channeled his Spiritual Power. He had already reached the Spirit King Stage Three, but he still couldn't withstand the flames and was blasted back five meters. Fortunately, apart from being a bit disheveled, he wasn't harmed by the flames.

However, Li Bieli was in trouble. He was only at the Spirit Ancestor Stage Five realm, and one of the flames Spit Up by the Charizard was aimed directly at him. The speed was too fast, and he had no chance to react. He could only subconsciously use his Spiritual Power to defend himself.

"Boom!"

The powerful flames engulfed Li Bieli, sending him flying ten meters backward before he slammed heavily to the ground.

"Roar~"

Charmeleon was about to unleash another breath when a burst of spiritual energy shot towards Charmeleon. Everyone looked and realized it was the referee who had intervened.

"Charmeleon committed a foul by attacking the trainer. It has lost the match, and Venusaur is the winner!" the referee announced loudly.

"See? I told you the Charmeleon could be angry and violent, and couldn't be controlled, but you insisted on arguing with me." The cultivator who had been arguing with him earlier couldn't help but say this to the cultivator who had been arguing with him, his tone full of smugness.

The monk who had been arguing with him could only awkwardly remain silent.

"Remember to read more books in your spare time." Having won the debate, he got a little cocky.

However, no one paid attention to him at this moment. Everyone was staring blankly at the arena. The cultivator looked puzzled and subconsciously thought that the situation had changed again. He quickly turned around to look at the arena.

In the arena, the masked man was gone, replaced by an elderly man with white hair and a aged face kneeling on the ground.

His clothes were almost completely burned off, leaving only a few pieces of cloth to cover his private parts.

His body had no healthy muscles; it was completely withered, with only a layer of skin remaining. In some places, the skin had even rotted into a clump. No blood vessels could be seen anywhere on his body, as if all the blood in his body had been drained.

"My God! How could this be!" Everyone stared in shock at Li Bieli's emaciated body.

For the first time, everyone truly understood the meaning of the phrase "skin and bones"!